A dispute on a proposal to amend Tunisia’s electoral law one year before the scheduled presidential and parliamentary polls is back to the spotlight, with some sides accusing large parties such as Nidaa Tounes and Ennahdha of seeking to push them out of the political scene.
Small parties, which have a few representatives in the parliament or which have failed to enter the legislature following the elections of 2011 and 2014, are protesting the law’s amendment that, according to them, would end diversity in the legislative branch.
They say Nidaa Tounes and Ennahdha parties want to have full control over the parliament and to silence the opposition.
A member of The Independent High Authority for Elections said the proposed amendment seeks to increase the number of lawmakers from 217 to 231, in line with the demographic changes that the country has gone through.
The draft-law also calls for raising the threshold of victory in the parliamentary elections from 3 to 5 percent.
Another proposal includes lowering the number of deputies to 204 on condition that the law allows one lawmaker to represent 65,000 Tunisians.
The Authority, which has a consultative role, is set to study the proposals and then refer them to the parliament for approval.
Calls for amending the electoral law began this year before the municipal elections were held in May.
President Beji Caid Essebsi and the major parties such as Nidaa Tounes and Ennahdha have backed the proposals despite the opposition’s rejection.
The Secretary-General of the opposition Republican Party, Issam Chebbi, said that amending the law ahead of the presidential and parliamentary elections “has no democratic ground” and leads to “a change in the rules of the game.”
He stressed that small parties are not responsible and should not fall victim to the political crises and weak governments that the country has been suffering from.
